Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for conveying items. More particularly, the system of the present invention relates to a system for conveying wall board, particle board, plywood, or other sheet material from one destination to another while the board being conveyed is placed on edge.
In the construction industry, particularly for homes or the like buildings, an important component of the construction of such a building is the construction of the exterior and interior walls of the building. In most cases, the interior walls are constructed of a material known as wall board or "sheet rock" which comprises the section of material normally 8' in length by 4' in width and of various thickness. The sheeted material is attached to the structural frame work of the walls, side by side, floated, and painted for achieving a continuous wall surface.
Likewise, other types of material such as plywood of various thickness are utilized in the construction of buildings for either the exterior of the building, the initial roof layer of the building or the like uses. Therefore, it can be easily forseen that the use of these types of materials in the construction of the home or more particularly in the construction of a larger building, can be of a great magnitude of sections of board, in order to complete the construction. In fact it is not unusual in the construction of an apartment complex or the like that hundreds of thousands of these particular pieces of materials are utilized into final construction.
As is often the case in the construction of a building or the like, the materials must be delivered to the building site at a particular time in the construction, so that the materials are not allowed to remain in the weather and perhaps be ruined. It is especially important, in the case of wall boards or sheet rock, that this material be placed out of the weather as soon as possible, in view of the fact that the materials constructed of a substance adhered between layers of paper, and when wet, becomes useless and must be discarded as waste.
In addition, this type of board depending on its thickness is quite heavy in weight, and since the most logical place to store the board would be in the confines of the structure once it has a roof place thereupon, it is necessary that the board reach the structure in order to be placed therein. Often times, because of inclement weather, trucks which are often times utilized to convey material to the job site, due to its weight may become bogged down in attempting to get the material into the building, and in most if not all instances, the access to the building is such that the wall boards can not be conveyed by vehicle, but must be manually carried into the building.
Therefore, there is a need for a system whereby the wall boards may be conveyed to the job site, when one wishes to, and the system may be dismantled quite easily so that it does not have to occupy the job site for a longer time needed. In addition, the system must be such that it can be in any size depending on the amount of distance that the boards must be conveyed to its final destination.
There have been patented systems which address the broad concept of conveying materials, the most pertinent as follows:
U.S Pat. No. 4,422,541 issued to Lisec entitled "Apparatus for Conveying Insulating Glass Panes", teaches the use of a conveyer system, which is adopted so that insulating compound on the edge of the glass does not make contact with the conveying belt. Further includes a plurality of backing rollers which are free rolling, and as the pane is moved along a continuous belt the glass does not make contact with the conveying belt.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,844,405 issued to Shufford, entitled "Quick Adjusting Guide Rail For Conveyer", teaches the use of an upright conveyer system. The invention addresses an adjustable screw mechanism for slidable adjusting the width of the guide rails for making it easier to adjust the width of the member.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,332,538 issued to Rice, entitled "Conveyer Structure", teaches the use of a conveyer system wherein the article being conveyed comes in direct contact with a drive chain as it is moving along.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,605,994, issued to Parlette, entitled "Unit Frame Assembly For Endless Belt Or Similar Conveyor", addresses the structure of a conveyer system having a unit framed assembly being of fabricated components.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,844,399 issued to Sellers, entitled "Log Conveying Apparatus", teaches the use of an apparatus having a series of members for guiding the log over a continuous chain, the guiding members being in a series of rotatably wheel members.